2007

Coulee Sno-Drifters

One member to another

First Ride

Every year we look forward to the first BIG ride of the season,

be it here or afar. Leading up to it there is the Chili Feed, all the talk, poring over magazines, attending snowmobile shows, doing trail work,

winterization and tweaking of last years iron and maybe just maybe the search for and set up of a new model. And... . more wax. Then,

there is the interminable wait for the white gold to come

add deer hunting, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday all to go by, and just possibly

we don't have to hope for snow for Christmas. The spouses and friends who really know us can't wait for the trails to open either

because this whole anticipation of the first Ride

Paul N. - - - -My suit feels looser this year- maybe this weight loss will give me better power to weight- ah, I don't need that anyway.

Bernie S. - - - Three wax jobs should have been enough on a new machine. Hope the windshield is tall enough - well...it feels okay now.

Ron K.- - - Will they ever stop asking me when I'm to trade? They were more worried about my new studs than I was.

Rich K. - - -God, I'm glad I got this machine now, it was worth it. I'm sixty-nine , I should have and deserve more suspension. Maybe they will stop talking about my moldy money now.

Ron S. - - -Whew....feels good to be recovered and alive. A good way to celebrate with this anniversary sled.

Karl B. - - -Mary thought I was crazy the last day, never can sleep before a 1st ride. She says I'm obsessed. Hope I stay healthy this winter. Hope we all do for that matter. Don't miss the drinking anymore...nobody does, it feels good to feel good.

Wonder why more people don't ride snowmobile- it's great out here.

We're done riding for the day...already?

Years back when I would go to family Thanksgiving and Christmas get togerhers invariably one of the "young guys", a nephew, would take little digs at me with comments like: " can you still ride", " how much longer will you snowmobile," " are you ready to quit", "do you ride with people your age". When I would answer him back he would say "Oh, really, well...you couldn't keep up with me or my buddies." I was tempted to tell him about big bull and little bull or maybe a variation about the tortoise and the hare, but I didn't. I just bide my time and waited for a better opportunity which came along in 2005 when a bunch of us "old guys" planned a trip north to Boulder Junction where we would ride both the closeness of the Wisconsin trails and the openness of the Michigan system. We invited da nephew to come along.

I specifically invited the "hare" to go up a day early with me since the rest of the "turtles" couldn't get going as fast as I could on that trip. We checked into Boulder Junction and I advised him to get rest cause we're leaving early in the morning. We left the motel at 7:00 AM, ate and headed out. Since da nephew said I couldn't keep up and since I knew the trails, I led. We got to Marinesco, stopped for a few minutes, whereupon the young buck says " well, we heading back now?" I said, "no, I came here to ride, we're heading up". We rode up to the Root Cellar, stopped in and he asked again if we're going back, and I said "nah, we'll keep going up". We rode to Henry's in Rockland, fueled up, got some great grub and he asked again if we're going back and I said nah, I came here to ride.

We rode to Twin Lakes and took both the upper and lower loops where the trails were perfect and the odometers clicked by. I could see as we were fueling up in Twin Lakes again that he was looking more than a little bewildered, so since I sensed this, I told him we were heading south now. He just grunted in agreement. So, we headed down to Rockland then to Bruce Crossing, Kenton, Watersmeet, Land O'Lakes and back to Boulder Junction. Oh, we made stops along the way to top the tanks, have a pop, savor a candy bar or just visit for a few minutes. Unlike those past Thanksgivings and Christmases the young guy was talking about what he was going to do after his riding was over, after this particular ride anyway.

The next morning the rest of the old guys were there and as we ate breakfast at the start of the day my young riding companion announced that he was still tired from yesterday and he asked, "so the rest of you ride like old iron ass here?" His question rally never registered with the rest of the guys since when "old guys" go on trips they just go with the flow. If the riding is great- probably higher mileage if not probably lower mileage.

As we look at the membership, meeting attendance, committees, chili feeds, council meetings, trail work, etc. etc. etc. well...maybe we ought to be thankful for older guys...and gals. We should probably be more actively looking for our replacements, but to "older" ones like us the thought of quitting seldom occurs to us. Personally, I'm on a mission to wear out all my machines before I wear out.